Hallucinatory Episodes
by ChocoholicBec
Summary: "...some sort of fever that greatly weakens me and has encouraged hallucinatory episodes..." Three such 'hallucinations'.


Most of the third scene is taken from 'Lirael' (chapter 30), but is from Nick's perspective. Cross-posted to AO3.

* * *

The air was warm and sticky. Sam had mentioned something once about the Old Kingdom having different seasons, but Nicholas had paid him no mind. Axial tilt didn't work like that.

Sam had said a lot of things about the Old Kingdom. Nick was beginning to wish he'd listened, now. Not that there was anything _wrong_. Far from it. But it was a strange place, with strange people, and it was far too hot for just after midwinter. Scarcely any of the clothes he had brought were suitable.

The air was so heavy, and so still. The long grass beneath Nick's feet never swayed, and the red-tinged lake didn't ripple with wind. There were clouds above, as there frequently were, but without ever a drop of rain. His breath wheezed through his lungs, and a pain started to twinge at the centre of his chest.

Hedge approached him. "Master Nicholas, I have had an idea," he said respectfully. "About the excavation."

"Go on," said Nick, and coughed. It was strange how none of Hedge's small group of workers were willing to dig the mound. He had been doing some digging himself, but this strange fever meant he was unable to do nearly as much as was necessary for a full excavation.

"There is a nearby… colony, of men and women with a certain affliction. This affliction is not readily contagious, but they nevertheless find it difficult to gain useful employment. I thought - with your permission, Master - that we could hire these poor unfortunates to do the physical work required for the excavation of the Lightning Trap."

"A colony?" asked Nick, wheezing. "Like a leper colony?"

"Somewhat like, perhaps, sir," said Hedge. "But as I said, their illness is not contagious, and they are quite fit and hale apart from it. You would have nothing to worry about on that score, Master Nicholas. And I am assured that they are excellent workers, willing to work through the night and for very little pay."

"Very good, then," said Nick, "hire them," and doubled over, clutching his chest and coughing until he could not catch his breath. He could taste the salty tang of iron, and some other metal he didn't recognise. Lightning flashed, a streak of it grazing the side of the mound - the third time that hour - but the light didn't shine white into Nick's eyes, but red, like the flecks of blood he had coughed up that stained the soil. He gasped for air, choking a little, but the red didn't recede. He could smell smoke, but nothing was burning. He felt his knees unlock, crumpling him to the ground, and Hedge's face filled his vision; his eyes seemed to have burning flames for pupils, and the whites were brightest red.

"Master?" Hedge asked, his tone uncertain, and Nick fainted.

He awoke in his tent a short time later. "Hedge, what happened?" he asked, trying to sound as though he was still completely in control of the situation.

"You fainted, sir," said Hedge. Nick looked carefully at him. His eyes were their usual brown, without a trace of scarlet or of flame.

"I must be feverish again," Nick said, feeling his forehead. He hadn't realised he was ill enough to suffer hallucinations, but there was no other explanation for what he had seen. "I believe I shall rest here for the remainder of the day. Will you go and hire these - afflicted persons for me?"

"Certainly, Master," said Hedge.

* * *

The very expensive, Ancelstierre-made lightning detector Nick had brought had just fallen to pieces. The metal had rusted through in a matter of only days. It was the third piece of equipment to fail in such a way. He swore, loudly, violently and coarsely, and then swore a few more times for good measure. It was quite freeing, actually. Back home, he couldn't so much have said "damn" without a frown from Mother and a scolding from Father.

Hedge shook his head. "I did say, Master Nicholas, that the… weather conditions… here are highly inimicable to many modern technologies."

"Yes, Hedge, I am aware of that," said Nick shortly. His chest felt tight again, and his stomach ached. "What did you come to see me about?"

"The workers have struck another barrier, Master," Hedge said.

"A second one?" he said wearily. "What is it this time, then?"

"Gold," said Hedge. "Pure gold."

"And I thought the silver was odd," Nick mused. "May I see?"

Hedge bowed to him. "Of course, Master Nicholas. Please, follow me."

The hillock that housed the hemispheres - Nick was certain it was two hemispheres now, although he had not seen them except in dreams - was half eaten away by buckets and shovels, reddish soil and yellow clay piled around what was left of the mound. It was more of a pit now than anything else, thought Nick, not a mound at all. He blinked, and a silver sheen crossed his vision for a moment. Two hemispheres of silver metal. He shook his head and followed Hedge.

The workers always stank of rotten meat, which seemed strange to Nick. What kind of illness could they have, that caused their flesh to rot while they still lived? They were still digging, though the sun had already set. Indeed, they seemed to be working faster now than they had at noon.

Hedge saw him looking. "The workers prefer digging in the evenings, Master, as their… affliction makes them sensitive to sunlight." He chuckled. "I sometimes call them the Night Crew, myself."

"A good name," said Nick. He could see the glitter of gold at the centre of the pit, shining even in the twilight. The silver they had already broken through lay in pieces to one side. Nick had plans to melt it down and sell it to help finance further experimenting, but so far these plans had come to nought. He felt a little ill, standing this close to the pit with its strange hot-metal scent, and wished he could move away. But Hedge stood closer, and Nick could hardly let a servant be braver than he. He stepped forward.

One of the workers looked up from his digging, and Nick froze in mid-step.

It was impossible. The man - was it a man? - had skin hanging from his face in mottled, greyish strips below his blue head-scarf. Beneath the damaged skin was the white of bone, and sunken, clouded eyes. How could anyone work with their skull showing? Nick forced himself not to retch at the sight, or at the stench of metal and decay combined. He looked down for a moment, trying not to vomit, and when he looked up again, the worker with his rotting face had turned away, and Nick couldn't tell whether it had been real or just another hallucination. A mix of memory, of those strange animated corpses after that cricket match, and of the reality in front of him.

Hedge seemed to be waiting for him to say something, and Nick remembered the gold barrier he had come to see. "Yes, that barrier is very strange," he said at last. "Well, dig it out and put it beside the silver." He swallowed back the bile that had risen in his throat. "I feel a touch unwell, Hedge. I might return to my tent, now."

"Of course, Master," said Hedge.

* * *

It was another damned hot day. As the Night Crew dug deeper, the lightning came more frequently, and the clouds above had barely moved for days, but they gave no shelter from the heat. Nick wiped sweat from his forehead as he stood at the edge of the pit, and frowned as his left wrist passed his ear. His watch had stopped ticking, although he had diligently wound it every day. He shook it a little, but all that succeeded in doing was shaking the minute hand loose. It tinkled beneath its glass prison. "Damn it!" he said. "Why does nothing work?"

Lightning snaked down into the pit. Without a working watch, Nick started counting the seconds in his head. _One and two and three and four…_

…_fifty-three and fifty-four and fifty-five…_ The lightning had stopped. "Four in approximately fifty seconds. It's getting more frequent." Oh, they were close. He could feel it. "Hedge!"

"Yes, Master Nicholas?" called Hedge, waving from within the pit.

"The lightning comes more quickly," he said. "We must be close. Ask the men if they will work an extra shift tonight."

"Oh, they'll work!" shouted Hedge, and laughed. "Do you want to come down?"

Nick's stomach cramped at the thought of coming down into that dank, dark pit, surrounded by the stench of the Night Crew and the strange metallic scent that permeated the air. He tried to shout back, but his throat had seized up. He coughed a few times. "I feel… I feel unwell again, Hedge. I'm going to lie down in my tent. I will look later. But you must call me if you find anything." The image of the shining hemispheres floated in front of his eyes. "It will be metal, I think. Yes, shining metal. Two shining metal hemispheres, each taller than a man. We must find them quickly. Quickly!"

Hedge continued out of the pit. "Who is that with you?" he shouted, pointing to the thin air besides Nick.

Nick blinked and squinted. There was nobody there. "Nothing. No one." He almost sighed. "I am so tired," he muttered to himself. "But it will be a great discovery-"

"Spy!" shouted Hedge. "You'll burn at the feet of my Master!"

Nick's eyes focused suddenly, and there stood a woman, in between the heat shimmers. She faded in and out like a mirage, but he could see the red of her blouse, long dark hair held back by a white scarf, and an expression of such - _concern_ on her pale face. Flames were flickering up the hill, pouring from Hedge's hands, but Nick didn't even notice them. He held out his hand for her to shake. "Hello!" he exclaimed. Seeing her shimmer again, he added, "But I expect you're only another hallucination." She vanished completely, and the fire reached where she had been, billowing up into a tall column of fire and smoke.

"Steady on, now, Hedge!" Nick protested, turning to stare at him. "Where did that fire come from?"

Hedge stared at him. "It was necessary, Master Nicholas. She was spying on us."

"You're saying you set that fire? You could have killed us all!"

"Oh, no," said Hedge with a smile. "I would never be so careless."

Nick wiped blood from his lip. It had cracked again, in the heat. He felt dizzy. He always felt dizzy these days. "I must go lie down, Hedge," he said again. "Will you oversee the work?"

"Yes, Master," said Hedge.


End file.
